Many high school students seem to struggle at maintaining good grades, which will present a huge problem in the near future for them, because without good grades, their college options will be limited, making for a lower income job, and a late retirement, if any. Well fear no more students, just follow this guide and its tips to get good grades and a bright future.
First of all, this should be obvious, but I have noticed a lot of students doing this. Do NOT skip class, for any reason, unless you are going to vomit. It may be your most boring class, but if you don’t go, it will just get worse. You will have missed a lesson, be behind on homework, and you will have to teach yourself the lesson. Also if you have questions will have to talk to the teacher on your own time.
While you may be going to class now, what use is it if you sleep the whole time? The second rule of getting good grades is taking good notes. If you take notes, you force yourself to learn the lesson, aswell as making a study guide for the test later on. Taking good notes is hard to do, but practice makes perfect.
Some tips for taking good notes– ~ Don’t write everything your teacher says, just the important points. (For example, if your teacher specifiys something and writes it on the board or go’s in depth on it, write it down, what it is, how to use it, and an example of it being used.)
~ Highlight, or use another method of making on section easy to find, the subject matter. For example, if you teacher had you write down the definitions of terms for the class, highlight the terms, so while looking through your notes it is very easy to find.
~ Write the notes in your own words, but don’t change the meaning. For example, instead of writing polygon; a closed plane confined by three or more line segments, write a polygon is a shape with three or more sides. This will make note taking faster and easier to come back to, to study.
~ Ask questions, clarify what subjects confuse you. Taking notes you don’t understand is a waste of effort and pointless. Once the question is clarified, put the new understanding of the subject matter in your notes so you can be reminded later on.
Homework- yes, the most dreaded and hated part of all school, homework. Not only do you have to go to school all day, take notes, but also go home and do more work. Well homework can be easy and fast if you just think about it in a different way.
Some tips for good homework habits- ~ Your attitude towards homework is key. Don’t think of it as more work that gets in the way of free-time, but as a review for the days work. Homework brings subjects that you may not fully understand to light, making knowing what to study easier. It is also practice using what you learned in class, and practice makes perfect. ~ Do your homework, actually try, and you will understand the subject amazingly more. When I started high school, I hated doing my homework, but once I started doing it, it created a grade bumper in-case I didn’t do good on a test or project, my grade would stay high. I also noticed I actually knew what my teacher was talking about in class and my test grades rose significantly.
~ Have a time and place to do your homework. The place should be quiet and free of distractions. Also the ideal time to do homework is right after you get home. For me, I do my homework on my desk in my room, with my door closed, my computer monitor off (my computer is on, because I may need it), and some quiet relaxing music on in the background right when I get home.
~ The part of homework that even I still have trouble with is remembering what I have to do. That is why you should have a planner, in my experience the school gives you one, but if thats not the case they are sold at office supply stores and Wal-Mart. Once your teacher tells you what the homework is, you should write it down in the planner, so if you forget it, just check your planner.
Projects- tests you don’t have to study for. A project is a great way to boost your grade if you can do them right.
Tips for projects-
~ Start a project the day it is assigned, not the day before it is due. While the deadline before the project is due may seem like you have an endless amount of time, the truth is, that deadline will come up on you before you know it.
~ Read the rubric, and do your project according to it. Too many times have I seen kids make mistakes and mess up a project they put a lot of time and effort into, just because they missed a part of the rubric that said to a certain thing.
~ State everything that the project needs, then add visuals like a picture or a model. Something to make it more exciting than a bunch of words on a page. Also add color, but don’t go too far. Teachers don’t like to give good grades to projects that bored them.
Study techniques- ~ Cramming for a test, the day before it is going to be taken seems to be a high school custom. While this helps, it is scientifically proven that studying for 30 minutes a day for a week before a test is better than five hours the day before, because you brain needs the time to process and digest the information.
~ Study with a friend. This will help because you will get someone else to quiz you on subject matter and someone else’s way of understanding some difficult subjects. This only applies if being with a friend will not cause a distraction.
~ Look back at the notes you took for that class, this will create a study guide and dictionary for terms.
Time management-Many high schoolers are involved in many things outside of school, such as sports, instrument lessons, clubs, and much more. How is a person too keep track of school work and manage these other activities. Time management is just that.
~ Use any and all free time. Do you ride the bus, then use that time to get some reading done, get a head-start on homework, or get some last minute studying in. Don’t let a minute go wasted.
~ Like I stated earlier in the guide, have a planner, so you can avoid wasting time shuffling around in your backpack, see if you had any homework.
~ Keeping organized will save time looking for something that not even be in your backpack.
~ Many teachers give time to do homework at the end of class. This is not time to talk to your friends in the class, get your homework done, so when you get home, you’ve got the day to do whatever you need to.
Follow these steps whole-heartedly and you will be well on your way to getting great grades.
